This  6-week flex course will teach adolescents how to recognise anxiety and cope with worries and stress using effective and research-based tools and strategies. 

Everyone experiences anxiety. It is a natural and important emotion, signaling through stirrings of worry, fearfulness, and alarm that danger or a sudden, threatening change is near. Yet sometimes anxiety becomes an exaggerated, unhealthy response. Anxiety presents in different ways from teenager to teenager. Symptoms generally include excessive fears and worries, feelings of inner restlessness, and a tendency to be excessively wary and vigilant. Even in the absence of an actual threat, some teenagers describe feelings of continual nervousness, restlessness, or extreme stress.


Since adolescence is a time when feelings of belonging and being approved by peers are crucial for their self-esteem, having resources to help themselves can make a huge difference in their mood and sense of safety in the world.

We will start with understanding what anxiety is and focus on understanding and managing anxiety and worries. We will explore what the signs are and how anxiety feels in the body. We will then explore ways to challenge negative thoughts and create more helpful and positive thinking patterns. 

We will learn strategies to cope with and manage anxiety in different situations and will explore helpful ways to manage uncomfortable physical symptoms.

In detail, we will be learning: 

Week One:
- What is anxiety?
- Fight/flight/freeze response of the brain 
- Warning signs in the body
- Causes of anxiety and triggers
- Breathing / Grounding and relaxation techniques

Week Two: 
-Circle of anxiety 
- More signs of anxiety - thoughts, behaviours and feelings 
- Anxiety thermometer 
- Breathing / Grounding and relaxation techniques

Week Three:
- The impact of negative and anxious thoughts
- Thinking traps
- Challenging negative thoughts 
- Positive affirmations
- Breathing / Grounding and relaxation techniques

Week Four:
-   Circle of control
- Problem solving your worries
- Breathing / Grounding and relaxation techniques


Week Five:
- Reversing the Circle of anxiety
- Facing fears gradually
- Grounding exercises 


Week Six:
- Exploring personal strengths and qualities 
- Put strengths into daily practise 
- Wrapping up  
- Self-care tools
- creating your own anxiety toolbox  

This will be a flex class, with video recordings created by me. (There will be no live meetings). Students may complete class work on their own schedule, but will be expected to move forward at the weekly pace of the class to allow for discussion and ensure understanding. 

I will post our weekly lessons, announcements and materials on Sunday (once a week for six weeks). Each lesson consists of short video recordings with presentations of myself teaching the course, and of activities/interaction tasks and optional assignments. Each video ranges from 10-20 minutes in length and is accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation. 

Depending on the week's topic I will be posting a different number of videos and activities each week, however students will have the whole week to watch the videos practise the activities in their own time. 

Students enrolled in this class will have ample opportunity to interact through discussion questions, creative activities, worksheets, quizzes, and even sharing video recordings if they wish. All the interaction will be done in the Outschool classroom. Learners can complete each activity according to their schedule, but all activities must be done before the next Sunday, however, late work is still accepted. Students and the teacher will nicely comment on other's work and answers  commenting what they liked and differences/similarities to their own work. 

Throughout the class, I will still provide timely encouragement, guidance, and feedback to learners. I will also be available for any questions that may arise and I respond to student answers on a near-daily basis.

*This course is only educational and is not intended to diagnose or cure medical or mental health conditions. If any conditions are severe, it is best to consult a medical or mental health specialist.